As a Valentine's present to my readers (sorry, not very romantic) I'm doing a double book review, with lots of pictures!
First, a much-talked-about book in the headache world, "Heal Your Headaches: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain" by David Buchholz, M.D. This book outlines a three-part plan: (1) Avoid rebound-causing medications, (2) Reduce your triggers, particularly foods that commonly trigger migraines, and (3) Try preventive medication if the first two steps aren't working.
This is the book I've been using to guide my elimination diet. It says to try the diet for four months, which I'm hoping to do, although it's a big challenge...then again, so are headaches! I've pretty much completed the first step, although I still take one or two Butalbitals a month (If I remember correctly, I'm supposed to get down to zero for a while and then add to once or twice a month if needed). The elimination diet is going ok, and the book brings up an interesting point about preventive meds. Dr. Buchholz claims that they won't work as well unless you're doing the elimination diet along with taking the meds. This is why I've decided to try them again - I don't want to take anything I've tried before though, because I know about the bad side effects, so I started a new one (which I mentioned in my previous post).
The only negative about the book was I felt like I was being talked down to at times, but the author also talks down toward other doctors who are getting it wrong. It may be my own sensitivity, and I wouldn't let that stop you from reading this book.
The second book I'd like to review is "Migraine-Free Cooking!" by Heidi Gunderson.
This book uses "Heal Your Headache" as a guideline for recipes. I'm being a little stricter than these two books for now by avoiding tomatoes and pork, which are not-as-common migraine triggers, but I may add those back soon. I'm waiting to see a reduction in headaches, and so far that hasn't happened (it can take a while, I've heard).
Instead of writing a lengthy review of Heidi's book, I thought I'd let my pictures of a few of her recipes that I've tried speak for themselves. Enjoy! :)
Garlic Butter Shrimp
Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches
Hummus
Blue-Strawberry Smoothie
Brown Sugar Chicken
Seasoned Salmon